The Voord in London: The Thal from G.R.A.C.E.

"The concept of justice should always be simple."

Writer: Felicia Barker

Format: Audio 

Released: June 2025

Series: Space Security Service 1.02

Featuring: Anya, Mark Seven

Synopsis

As their investigations continue, SSS agents Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven journey to a planet colonised by Thals. They're in pursuit of a Thal scientist who has perfected an experimental new weapon... but soon they are the targets...

Verdict

The Thal from G.R.A.C.E. was a decent episode to continue my way through the first series of the Space Security Service spinoff series! This didn't quite live up to the very high standards set in the opener of The Voord in London, but it was still intriguing to continue the focus surrounding the Thals and the imminent Dalek threat. It's a shame that the umbrella title for the series will seemingly only apply to the opening episode and with a story arc running through the three stories, something better could have been done there. It's not a huge issue it's just something I don't quite understand. I thought this episode got very political and with that dealing with the politics of the future and in space, I was certainly interested. I just felt at times there was potentially a bit too much diplomacy and discussion rather than serious action. Anya and Mark were a strong pairing and the latter having more of a presence in this episode was most welcomed. I thought the way he challenged Levalyon regarding his organic matter and that making him closer to a Dalek than he ever could be was superb. That was potentially the highlight of the episode for me! Vaul was a strong character and her representing Earth from the future and the interests of the Conglomerate made her a very interesting person! She was keen to question on authority and jurisdiction and I like the bullish nature of the Space Security Service. Anya is clearly very comfortable in her position and what that yields, so much so that I sense it may come back to bite her by the time the finale arrives. Her being on the hunt for Thals to obtain the biotonic device was good and I liked that we learned what it actually was. The concept behind a sonic pulse that would go through solid matter and attack organic components was obviously desirable for the SSS as that would be perfect for the Daleks. Who would care about their casing if you could just get straight through to the mutant at the controls? Introducing the Na-Thals was of peak interest as well as with them having different cultural beliefs they were almost seen as a completely different species. I think it's a fun but not surprising twist for the Daleks to emerge as the ones behind the group hiding people away from the Daleks because that's just brilliant. It's just a shame they barely featured in the episode! Hopefully that means we'll get them in full course for the finale and I hope they're distinctly the 1960s versions from the likes of The Chase and The Daleks' Master Plan which seem fitting to do battle with the SSS. I thought Tarek was a strong character and his sense of both agreements and differing opinions with Levalyon were pretty fun. They both tried to one up each other and their causes seemed to align. I thought the G.R.A.C.E. organisation was good and the acronym made a lot of sense, although I do wonder if they were introduced simply for the play on words for the episode title. I hope that's not the case though! The testing of the device backfiring on the SSS was a bit of a surprise and Tarek becoming a casualty did shock me a little. It just didn't put the SSS in a good position at all as they'd barely advanced and now a needless person had died. Anya is getting a bit big for her boots and I'm keen to explore that as I'm not entirely sure she realises it. It's what makes her a strong lead character. The Daleks emerge nicely at the end and with their threat looming on a galaxy scale, the biotonic weapon is needed more than ever. Overall, a bit too much dialogue but a good continuation of the overall story arc for sure. I'm very excited to hear how things conclude!

Rating: 7/10